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Saturday, June 7, 2014

Dear Albert: Einstein to us

Young Albert (Public Domain)

The man whom the world knew as an absolute genius turned out to be just another fool in love.

Thus spaketh Alan Alda in his recent play Dear Albert, “a
reading of the letters written by Einstein to his wives and other women… ”

Although Einstein’s scientific quest was to pare down (up?) the cosmos to its lowest (highest?) common denominator, his personal life can best be described as “chaotic.”

As a young man, Albert exchanged love letters with his then-wife, “the brilliant and determined” Mileva Maric. Passionate terms of endearment were interspersed with “scientific discussions” and “mathematical equations” throughout this correspondence.

Love (alas) turned to laundry, and “Dear Albert” began to demand such things as “clothes… kept in good order” and “three meals regularly” in his room (no less).

Exit Mileva, enter Cousin Elsa (and perhaps her daughter). It
seems that Albert was far more faithful to physics than he was to women, but even there he had some issues.

Bahar Gholipour of Live
Sciencepoints out that Einstein had repeatedly been convinced of finding his true theory at last, only to later renounce it for another.